Happy Herbivore’s Crunchy Chinese Salad

I love it when a plan comes together. We’re pretty busy running around most days and tend to bring a lot of work home with us, so to avoid having to make yet another dang decision, we are members of a meal planning service that delivers seven days worth of delicious, low-fat, vegan meal plans, the recipes to make those magical meals, and the coveted grocery list that supports that madness all via email one time a week. I’ve been coveting this recipe for a week or so now, saving it up for a post weekend soba noodle binge, I had all of these ingredients in the fridge or cupboard except for the green onions and purple cabbage when my hubby showed up Tuesday with both of those items in the CSA share bag! It was meant to be! Let me make this choice for you….double this recipe and make enough for lunch the next day because you are going to love this recipe for the Happy Herbivore’s Crunchy Chinese Salad from the July 15 meal plan.

Porter is an expert photo-bomber.

6 oz dry pasta, uncooked (I used soba noodles – YUM!)

15 oz can chickpeas, drained & rinsed

2 cups purple cabbage, shredded

½ cup shelled edamame, thawed

2 carrots, shredded

2 bell peppers, seeded & sliced thin

4 green onions, sliced

1 English cucumber, sliced

1/2 cup dry-roasted peanuts, cashews or almonds, crushed

Asian Ginger Dressing

2½ tbsp agave or honey

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp minced garlic

1½ tbsp low-sodium soy sauce**

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

½ tsp ground ginger

To make dressing: Whisk ingredients together until well combined. Add 1-2 tbsp broth or water if necessary for desired viscosity.

About the blogger: Adrienne Wallace is a CSA junkie. Food is her favorite food; yes, all of the foods. Her life revolves around a menu. Usually dinner. She’s what one might call feisty. This includes, but is not limited to, being an anxious, super social and fun, geek/nerd/jock/fair queen-type hybrid, overachiever, can’t-say-no-non-profit volunteer junkie, petite syrah (sirah) lush, dirty martini drinker, beer snob (unless I’m tubing down a river, in which case it’s PBR-or screwdrivers from an OJ bottle), foodie, crazy about her husband Derek and of course, her rescue dogs Walter (#walterthewonderdog for all of you Tweeps), Bosley & Porter, madly addicted to lip gloss and sunscreen, a hopeless romantic, a liberal, a communications professor, PR professional, and a vegetarian, well, vegan-ish. Read more about her vegetable journey on her blog: Veg BonVivant which she realizes hasn’t been updated in about, oh, um, forever.